One of Steam's top-sellers is a house flipping game

Simulation games are finally coming into their own

Buying a dump at auction, investing a bit of sweat equity on the weekends and flipping it for mega profit is a guaranteed recipe for success… or at least, that’s what the weekend seminars and cable reality shows want you to believe.

In reality, things don’t always go according to plan and it’s easy to lose a ton of money in a hurry. In one of Steam’s surprise top-selling games, you can learn these lessons and more without ever having to swing a real hammer or get your hands dirty.

House Flipper from Polish indie developer Empyrean tasks gamers with being a one-man renovation crew. From cleaning and repairing to buying your first house and remodeling, it’s all up to you to turn trash into treasure.

I’ve personally never had the desire to flip a house but it’s these types of barebones, almost mundane simulation games that I’d hoped developers would build for years. As a kid, I loved racing games not for the thrill of competition but for the pure driving aspect. Give me an open environment and a realistic-performing vehicle like those offered in Midtown Madness or earlier Need for Speed games and I’d be content with simply cruising around and even obeying traffic laws for hours on end.

With the rise in popularity of gaming in general and platforms like Twitch to back them, it’s great to see indie developers catering to such a niche audience.

House Flipper launched on Steam on May 17 and has already amassed more than 1,400 reviews with an overall “Very Positive” rating. It’s currently priced at $17.99, a 10 percent discount over the original $19.99 MSRP.